| by Pastor Steve Ellison
If you are a Christian, Titus 2:13-14 should be a boost to your self esteem, .our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.(NASU) The fact that Jesus Christ, our great God and Savior died partly so that you could be refined and purified into His own special treasured possession ought to demonstrate for you just how important you are.
Its not that you are indispensable or necessary for anything to take place, but rather that God simply values you very highly. Its not that you are desirable or attractive, but it is merely that God chose to love you and enter into a special relationship with you.
God did not wait until the New Testament to mention this. Deuteronomy is filled with the idea that God chose a people to belong to Him in a way that others did not. Deuteronomy 7:6-8 sets it out very plainly, For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but because the Lord loved you..(NASU) Deuteronomy 26:18 expounds on that idea, The Lord has today declared you to be His people, a treasured possession (NASU) We should get our self esteem from that fact that God considers us to be worthwhile simply because He chose us. 1 Peter 2:9 carries on the idea in the New Testament, But you are a chosen race, A royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for Gods own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;. (NASU) You are important, significant, and worthy simply because God has chosen you.
In Titus 2:14 most modern translations state that God is purifying a people for His own possession; but the King James Version states that God is purifying unto himself a peculiar people. The KJV translators used an English term that had developed from an old Roman term peculium. Peculium described special property or money that a father or a master allowed his son or slave to possess. It was a private purse distinct from the family property. This money could be disposed of without getting permission from the master or the head of the household. To the 17th century English reader, peculium meant a special fund or bank account which a particular member of the family possessed separate from the family wealth. This money could be used at the sole discretion of the individual without regard to the wishes or needs of the rest of the family.
As a believer in Christ, you as an individual and as a member of the Church are a peculium belonging to the Lord. You are His and His alone. He loves and protects you. He can wait until some future time before He uses you. He can use you today if He so chooses. The bottom line is that you are His to treasure and protect and to use as He sees fit. You are special because He chose you and because He loves you. He is purifying you to be His special, peculiar possession. Hallelujah!
Ellison is the camp administrator ~ Ouachita Baptist Assembly and the intentional interim pastor, First Baptist Church of Horatio, AR. He formerly was pastor of Harvey's Chapel Baptist Church, Hot Springs, AR.
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